Shoe heel



L. S. BARRON.

SHOE HE EL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30/1921. I

Patented Aug.

8, 192?; 2 SHEETSSHEET I.

L. S. BARRON.

SHOE HEEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1921 1 124,975 Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.-

PATNT LANGDON S. BARRON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0BENJAMIN RICHTER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SHOE HEEL.

l i Application filed April 20,

T 0 all 207mm it mag concern:

Be it known. that I, LANGDON S. BARRON, a citizen of the United; States,residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Shoe Heels, of which. the. following is aspecification. 7

My, invention has relation to improvements in shoe-heels, moreparticularly to the fastening devices whereby theheel is se cured to theshoe, andconsists in the novel details of construction more fully setforth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, heels (both metallic and non-metallic)have been secured to the shoe by a plurality of nails, which are castinto the metal heels, or by screws. .t is the object of the presentinvention to dispensewith nailsand screws as fastening means, andsubstitute therefor suitable cooperating" devices on the heel and shoethat may be pressed into engagementand effectivelvlock the heel to theshoe. A further object isito provide complementary fastening devices onthe heel and the shoe that operate by wedging action, one member beingexpanded Within the other. Further and other advantages will be betterapparent from a detailed description of the invention in connection withthe accompanying drawings in which F igure 1 is a side elevation of ashoe with my improved heel applied. parts being broken away; Fin. 2 is amiddle vertical section through the heel: Fig. 3 is a front elevation ofthe heel; Fig". 4 is a top plan of the same; Fig. 5 is a bottom plan ofthe heel plate; Fig. 6 is an enlarged section through the fasteningdevices on the heel and the plate; Figures 7 and 8 are middle verticalsection and top plans respectively of a heel provided with a modifiedform of fastening devices; Figs. 9 and 10 show a still further modifiedform of the fastening; device of the shoe, said device being fixed to awasher; Fig. 11 is a plan view of a reinforcing; strip with thefastening devices secured thereto instead of being on'a separate plate.

Referring: to the drawings. and for the present to Figures 1 to 6inclusive, S represents a ladies shoe having an outsole 1, insole 2.metallic stiffening strip 8, and heel H, preferably of aluminum. Theheel is cast hollow and is provided with a lift L old in the art.

Specification of Letters Patent. Paitgnted A gugfl g, 1922.

1921; Serial No. 465,948.

secured against the lower face of the bottom wall 1-. The parts thus fardescribed are However, the heel must be securely fastened to the heelseat of the shoe and it is tothis fastening means that my invention isdirected. Projecting upwardly from the inside of the heel shell are aseries (in the present case three) of bosses 5. preferablycast integralwith the heel, although they. could be otherwise secured; and in thecase of a wood or leather heel theywould have to be individual memberssecured to the heel in any desirable manner. The bosses 5 aresubstantially cylindrical and each is provided with an annular recess 6the wall a of which is upwardly inclined. The formation ofthe recess 6leaves a conical wedge 7 projecting upwardly at the cen ter of the boss5. The bosses 5 constitute the fastening members on the heel.Complementary fastening members are provided on the shoe as follows: i

A metallic plate 8is inserted in the shoe sole between'the stifi'eninp;strip 3 andinner sole 2, said plate being provided witha series ofbosses 9 projecting downwardly through openings 10 in the outer sole 1.The bosses 9 are provided with longitudinal kerfs 11, disposed at rightangles to each other, thereby dividing the boss into four finogers 12.

In securing the heel to the shoe it is merely necessary to clamp theheel in a vise and position the bosses 9 over the bosses 5, whereuponthe proper amount of pressure exerted within the heel of the shoe willforce the bosses 9 into the recesses 6. As soon as the boss 9 begins toenter the recess 6 the wedge 7 will enter at the intersection of thekerfs 1.1 and spread apart the fingers 12. The fingers will be spreadthe whole while they are entering the recess 6, the wedge 7 maintainingsaid fingers in contact with the wall a of the recess. From the above itis apparent that the bosses 9 are tightly wedged into the recesses 6 andthe heel is securely fastened to the shoe. Of course, the depth of thekerfs 11 and recess 6 should be such that the upper edge e of the heelwill fit snugly against the heel seat of the shoe before the fingers 12strike the bottom of the recesses 6. In practice sufficient allowanceshould be made so that there will al ways be some clearance between thefingers and the bottom of the recesses.

I the latter is. securely held in a vice where upon a single blow with ahammer is sufficient to wedge the boss 14: into the recess 15.

While the preferred form of fastening devices is as shown in Figures 1to 6 still I may modify the shape of the bosses as shown in Figures 7and 8. Here Ishow three bosses 9" projecting from the heel instead ofthe shoe-while the bosses 5' are on the shoe. The bosses 9 and 5 arerectangular and Qhas but two fingers 12 and bosses 5 have'complementaryrecesses 6 separated by a flat wedge 7. Instead of the bosses 9 beingsecured to a plate of the size of the heel seat I may secure them towashers or disks 1? to be placed in the shoe as shown inFigures 9 and10, or I may secure them directly to the reinforcing strip 3 as shown inFig. 11.

Obviously a great number of modifications might be devised that wouldfall with in the spirit of my invention, and I do not wish to berestricted to the particular forms shown herein.

Ha-ving described my invention, I claim:

1. A hollow shoe-heel having a boss projecting upwardly from the innersurface thereof, said boss being provided with a recess and a wedge, anda boss projecting downwardly from the heel seat of the shoe, the lastmentioned boss being kerfed so as to divide it ,into a series offingers, said wedge operating to bind the fingers into the recess onforcing the bosses into engagement thereby securing the heel to theshoe.

2. In combination with a shoe and heel therefor, a set of securingdevices formed in the upper surface of the shoe heel, and a set ofcomplementary securing devices projecting downwardly from the heel seatof the shoe, one of said'setsof securing devices beingprovided withrecesses having inclined walls, the other set having fingers withparallel sides adapted to be wedged intothe? aforesaid recesses, forsecuring the heel to the shoe. 7

3; In combination with a shoe and heel therefor, a securing deviceformed in the upper surface of the shoe" heel, and a com plementarysecuring device projecting down wardly frointhe'heel seat of the shoe,one of said securing devices being provided with a recess havinginclined walls and a conical LANGDON s. BARRON.

